Thursday marked Ward’s 669th career NHL regular-season game, his 569th as a starter. Yet despite all that experience, the 34-year-old might as well have been playing in his first NHL game just like a few of his younger teammates.

An uncontrollable energy was rushing through his body. It’s something even the longest-tenured players feel at the opening of every season. Some players feed off that, others not so much.

Ward is among the latter. The Senators needed just nine shots to put three pucks past him. The goals weren’t exactly Ward’s fault, but he also didn’t do much to stop them. Going into the dressing room trailing 3-2 after one period, Ward certainly felt he was capable of more.